1200
From the first community of Jerusalem until the parousia, it is the same
Paschal mystery that the Churches of God, faithful to the apostolic faith,
celebrate in every place. the mystery celebrated in the liturgy is one, but the
forms of its celebration are diverse.

1201
The mystery of Christ is so unfathomably rich that it cannot be exhausted by
its expression in any single liturgical tradition. the history of the
blossoming and development of these rites witnesses to a remarkable
complementarity. When the Churches lived their respective liturgical traditions
in the communion of the faith and the sacraments of the faith, they enriched
one another and grew in fidelity to Tradition and to the common mission of the
whole Church.66

1202
The diverse liturgical traditions have arisen by very reason of the Church's
mission. Churches of the same geographical and cultural area came to celebrate
the mystery of Christ through particular expressions characterized by the
culture: in the tradition of the "deposit of faith,"67 in
liturgical symbolism, in the organization of fraternal communion, in the
theological understanding of the mysteries, and in various forms of holiness.
Through the liturgical life of a local church, Christ, the light and salvation
of all peoples, is made manifest to the particular people and culture to which
that Church is sent and in which she is rooted. the Church is catholic, capable
of integrating into her unity, while purifying them, all the authentic riches
of cultures.68

1203
The liturgical traditions or rites presently in use in the Church are the Latin
(principally the Roman rite, but also the rites of certain local churches, such
as the Ambrosian rite, or those of certain religious orders) and the Byzantine,
Alexandrian or Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean rites. In
"faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that Holy
Mother Church holds all lawfully recognized rites to be of equal right and
dignity, and that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them
in every way."69

Liturgy and
culture

1204
The celebration of the liturgy, therefore, should correspond to the genius and
culture of the different peoples.70 In order that the mystery of Christ
be "made known to all the nations . . . to bring about the obedience of faith,"71
it must be proclaimed, celebrated, and lived in all cultures in such a way that
they themselves are not abolished by it, but redeemed and fulfilled:72
It is with and through their own human culture, assumed and transfigured by
Christ, that the multitude of God's children has access to the Father, in order
to glorify him in the one Spirit.

1205
"In the liturgy, above all that of the sacraments, there is an immutable
part, a part that is divinely instituted and of which the Church is the
guardian, and parts that can be changed, which the Church has the power and on
occasion also the duty to adapt to the cultures of recently evangelized
peoples."73

1206
"Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment, but it can also
provoke tensions, mutual misunderstandings, and even schisms. In this matter it
is clear that diversity must not damage unity. It must express only fidelity to
the common faith, to the sacramental signs that the Church has received from
Christ, and to hierarchical communion. Cultural adaptation also requires a
conversion of heart and even, where necessary, a breaking with ancestral
customs incompatible with the Catholic faith."74